A place for participants to post their own, or other racing reports and information. These discussions are open to runners of ALL levels.

Andrew Duncan, age 48, just ran 26:09 for 8km, placing 2nd to former open elite runner Christian Cushing-Murray. Andrew tried training on his own for about a year, and he was struggling and under-performing. So, he asked me to coach him again and I said yes. We've been working together again since January. He ran a strong 5k race last weekend and very strong 8k race today. (He's thrilled, as am I.) Fun stuff!

Huge congratulations to both! That is a great accomplishment! Can someone remind me of how fast Andrew was during his "prime" younger years? Also, Tom, I'm curious to know your thoughts on an equivalent race time if Andrew were in his prime running years and not 48 years old. Is that a 24:30 8k performance as a mid-20's male? 25 flat? Just curious - thanks!

Andrew ran in high school and college with a best time of 3:59 for the 1500m (about 4:17 mile equivalent). His performance level in distance events was substantially worse. He was running 16:40 to 17:00 in his 30s for 5km. When I started coaching him at age 37, he was sorely needing a Tinman/stamina based approach.

Within a few years of working with me, he ran in the mid to low 15s for 5km (more than a minute faster than his best time at age 37). He ran 31:52 for 10km at about age 44 or 45, can't remember which. He ran 1:11 for the half marathon at about age 46, and 2:29 for the marathon age age 47. He's run many strong track races too. He's faster than ever for any events over 1500m. It's hard now at his age to run fast in the 1500m, but the goal is to run well again this summer - in Portland - for the mile, which is similar in length.